


Smug

by edourado



Series: Hell's Kitchen Chronicles [113]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Frank is ready, Kare Bare is horny, Smut, kastle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 06:16:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16805101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edourado/pseuds/edourado
Summary: As it turns out, it feels nice to show off your man. Really, really nice.





	Smug

**Author's Note:**

  * For [carrythesky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrythesky/gifts).



Karen is not, usually, a smug person. Usually.

She usually doesn’t have Frank Castle with his arm around her, though. That changes things a bit.

Not that anyone knows that he is Frank Castle. But she finds that Pete Castiglione doesn’t lack in comparison.

It’s funny how the public memory works. His face has plastered countless newspapers, including her own, words like “terrorist”, “madman” and “vigilante” to describe him. Still. He walked into a suburban home with a different name and no bruises on his face, it’s like Castle never existed. Here stands Pete, just a regular guy.

It’s David’s birthday, and they had been invited for a barbecue to celebrate.

Saturday morning, grills, beer, khakis and florals, kids running around, men gossiping and women bragging about shit - Karen finds that women gossip way less than men. Way less.

He stands out on the small crowd. David is quick to introduce him, he shakes a few hands and conversation starts easily enough, but he spends a lot of time with the kids, or coming back to her to ask if she needs anything, if Sarah needs help with something.

Karen finds herself smiling, smug, to the other women.

He’s here with her. Like a magnet, he attracts the eyes and attention if every woman present, and she feels proud, as if she’s a cheerleader showing off her quarterback boyfriend.

Maybe that’s why those girls used to be so conceited. It feels really, really nice, having such a man to call your own.

Naturally, the women flock together, as do the men, as do the kids. The three or four teenagers have retreated to the living room.

He’s playing ball with Zach and some of his friends when the women standing with her and Sarah can’t hold the comments in anymore.

“That Pete of yours, oh boy”, says Janice, eyeing him as he throws a ball to one of the boys.

Karen smiles.

“I know!” Exclaims Lydia, making a show of waving herself. “Where did you find him, and do they make more?”

Laughter, and she and Sarah exchange a look.

They’re sitting under the shade of the gazebo, Sarah telling the women how David had insisted in building it for her himself, when Frank - Pete - walks to them, a gallant “ladies” rolling from his tongue easily, and bends to place a kiss on her forehead.

“Want me to refresh that for you?” He asks, reaching for her empty wine glass.

“Would you?”

She sounds spoiled, a woman used to being waited on at a moments notice by her man. Which is not exactly a lie, he is incredibly attentive, but she doesn’t usually sound like that. But the sun, the gawking women, the wine, the weekend, the pool.

The man.

“Of course”. He caresses her face and turns to the rest of the group. “Can I get anything to anyone?”

“We wouldn’t say no to another”, one of the women say, smiling up at him, all eyelashes and teeth showing.

“Coming right up”, he says, and his hand lingers on Karen’s while he walks away, making her stretch out her arm before letting go.

They giggle and she joins them. None of the other husbands are stopping by to check on them, with the exception of David, bringing stuff and asking things and pulling Sarah aside here and there, and the one other guy who is not a husband, Anna’s boyfriend. But Pete is the main attraction among the ladies.

“Here we go”, he says, coming back with a fresh glass for Karen and a brand new bottle of chilled rosé.

They scream like teenagers when he pops the bottle open, making him smirk. He pours her glass first, and only sits down when all of them are sipping on sparkly wine.

Minutes later, Karen is sitting with her feet on his lap, one foot being massaged by his strong hands, her hand caressing the back of his head while he is interrogated by the ladies. Where is he from? What does he do? How did they meet? How long have they been seeing each other?

“Pete!” Comes Leo, friends hot in her heels, all of them dripping wet from head to toe, fresh out of the pool. “You said you would ref our game!”

“Right”, he says, and Karen can tell he’s relieved to have an excuse to leave the scrutiny. “I did say that.” With another squeeze to Karen’s foot, he gets up from his seat. “Excuse me, I have a very important game to attend to.”

He nods at Sarah, who thanks him, and then bends to place a peck on Karen’s lips.

“Oh my God”, Linda groans while he walks away, surrounded by 13 year olds. “I need to get me one of those!”

Karen sips on her rosé, the bubbles tickling her nose, smugness running through her as if she had injected it, needle to vein.

“Well”, she says, cocking her head and shrugging one shoulder, just like those women she always rolled her eyes at. “This one’s mine.”

.:.

He’s dripping wet, his plan on watching the game from outside the pool having lasted barely a few minutes. The kids are out of the pool, called to lunch by their parents, and he is unfolding a towel to dry himself, bare chested, his soaked pants riding low on his hips.

Karen walks to him while he is drying his face.

“Hey”, he greets, not resisting when she takes one of his hands and pulls him along towards the tiny pool shed on the farthest corner of the back yard. “What’s going on?”

Karen opens the door and walks in, pulling him along, closing the door behind them.

“Hi”, she says simply, smiling at him in the dark small space, filled with toys, tools, folded furniture and cleaning supplies.

“You ok?” he asks, letting her pull him by the hand, and she bites her lower lip, nodding, taking his towel from him and hanging it on the handles of a stationary bike.

“I’m great.”

He tastes like beer and chlorine when she kisses him, his skin cold from the water. She puts her arms around his neck when her back hits a wall, kissing him slow and deep, humming when his cold hands find her waist.

“Karen”, he says after a moment, smiling against her mouth, and she leans back to look at him, an amused and surprised face looking back at her. “What are you doing?”

“Kissing you”, she replies simply, excitement bubbling inside her.

“Yeah, I know”, he says, and she leans into him again, kissing his lips, his face, under his ear. “It’s full of people outside.”

“Mm-hmm”, she agrees, hands roaming around his chest. “Full of people. Full of suburban moms, proud wives, neglected by husbands who’d rather huddle around a grill and talk about fantasy football league than pay any attention to them.”

His eyes are intent on her, now, listening, letting her feel him up, his own hands rising to her hips.

“Not you, though”, she goes on, tracing the path a water drop leaves on his skin when it slides from his hair, down his neck, over his collarbone, chest, following the contours of the tight muscles of his abdomen. “They’re all so smitten by you. Sweet and galant Pete, running around with the kids, sweating through his shirt while their hubbies feed the gut in their bellies.”

He chuckles, right hand rising to caress her face sweetly.

“Not my Pete, though”, she goes on, leaning into his touch, pulling him to her by the waist of his pants. “He’s all muscle. And such a gentleman. I swear you almost gave them a collective orgasm when you took your shirt off.”

He laughs against her neck, and she arches against his chest.

“I wonder what their reaction would be if they realized you’re actually a dangerous man.”

He lifts his head and looks at her, that expression that always promised so many nice things, toe curling things, things that make her struggle to keep quiet.

“Am I dangerous?” he asks, and she leans in to kiss him again.

“Oh, yes”, she says, lifting her left leg to slide it against his right, the soaked fabric of his pants dripping on the floor, cold water running down her skin, making her shiver. “Very dangerous. They can’t even imagine how dangerous you are. They lose their shit when you bring me wine, what would they do if I told them the lengths you go to keep me safe.”

He shakes his head, almost as if chastising her, but his hands tighten on her waist, there’s a low grunt in his throat, one she learned to recognize as the sound he makes when he’s feeling possessive of her.

“What do you think their reaction would be if I told them how much Frank Castle loves me, how he proves it to me over and over again, while their husbands can’t even bother to make them a hot dog.”

He kisses her this time, and she opens her mouth to him, sliding her leg further up, moaning at the feel of his tongue against hers. Frank shushes her, and that only makes her shiver, the noise of the people outside, so close, too close, only a thin wall and unlocked door separating them.

“Those guys are all getting so lucky tonight”, she goes on. “But their little wives are all gonna be thinking about you,” tugging on the strings on the waist of his pants. “Of all the things they wish you would do to them”, gasping when he reaches under her light, short sundress and runs his hand between her thighs, over her bikini. “All the things they know you’ll be doing to me.”

“How do they know?” he asks, teasing her, making her breathe harder, and she closes her hand on the wet, short strands of his hair - that always gets him hot and bothered.

“Oh, I’m gonna tell them-” she says, gasping louder when he sneaks a finger past her bikini, making her knees buckle.

“Shh, Karen”, he says, free hand rising up to grip her jaw, moving her face to his, speaking in a low voice against her mouth. “People will hear you.”

“Why shouldn’t they?” she defies, rolling her hips against his hand, letting her head fall against the wall behind her. “I’ve been implying the things you do to me all day. They can’t get enough.”

“Neither can you, huh?”

He kisses her long, open and languid, a wall of hardness against her, not one part of him soft, except his lips, that adore her mouth while the rest of him is eager to push, take, make her submit, and she will, she does.

“But you have to be quiet. The kids will be back in the pool any second.”

That’s the only reasons why she is trying, if she’s being honest. As much as she likes the idea of giving an audio sneak peek to the women that, in the beginning of the day, looked at her like ‘poor thing, not married’, she’s not looking to scar or traumatize any child.

“Besides”, he goes on, fully on board, now, one hand on her throat, mouth against hers while she breathes loud, the other inside her bikini. “I’m the only one allowed to hear you.”

Karen’s moaning inside his kiss when he takes his hands off her, batting her own hands away from the waist of his pants and stepping off her. She barely has time to complain when he flips her, making her face the wall and pressing his body against hers again, pushing her forward, trapping her between him and the rough wood panels. Her skin erupts in shivers when he breathes in her ear, practically growling, and pulls the hem of her dress up, forcing it to move between them, his body pressed to tight against hers that the flimsy fabric resists.

“What am I gonna do with you, hmm? Jumping me in the middle of a family barbecue full of people.”

Her eyes falling closed, she splays her hands on the wall in front of her and pushes against his hip, her ass tucked perfectly against his lap, and hums her approval when he drags her bikini over her butt and down her legs, letting it fall to the floor.

Frank puts a hand over her mouth before he sinks into her, and she allows herself to moan against his hand, knowing he loves it, knowing his palm will muffle the sound somewhat, rising to the tip of her toes to help him adjust.

“This is what you want, yeah?”

“Yeah” she cries against his hand, throwing her head back, his lips on her cheek. “Yeah, Frank, please!”

“Please what?”

“Harder, baby, please, please!”

“Be quiet”, he orders, but complies, pushing against her hard and fast, kissing her when she looks for his mouth with hers.

“God”, she whines, low, against his face, his mouth on her shoulder. “I love you so much.”

To which he grunts, tightening his grip on her, tugging on her hair, making her rest her head against his collarbone, and she bites her lip to keep quiet, licking on his neck right after, since it’s right there by her face.

Her head spins when Frank takes her right hand from the wall and places it on her belly, his on top of hers, and slides them down.

“Take what you want”, he instructs in her ear, and she is grateful for his left hand over her mouth again, because she’s unable to keep quiet, biting on the fleshy part of his palm, squeezing her eyes shut when his fingers move along with hers, following her movements, and she crashes, her cries muffled by his palm, feeling as he reaches his own high a few seconds later.

Before she can slump against the wall to try and control her breathing, he is slipping off her and turning her back towards him, kissing her sweetly, smiling when she laughs inside his kiss.

“You and your wine”, he says, moving her dress back in place, adjusting his pants again, letting her run her hands over him. “How about we stick with water from now on?” he jokes, but she nods, because she’s feeling so mellow, so satisfied, he can boss her around as much as he likes.

“Whatever you say.”

Frank clicks his tongue and moves to kiss her again.

“And you say I’m the dangerous one.”

He uses the towel he brought in with him to clean her up, raising her bikini bottom on her legs again.

“I should keep this”, he says, cocky, hands running up her thighs. “Teach you a lesson. But that dress is very, very short.”

While she fixes her hair, he bends and pushes her dress aside, stretching the material and exposing her bikini covered breasts. Karen gasps when he sucks on the skin under the left one, just above her heart.

“For you to show your friends”, he says, smiling, and she does, too, putting her arms around his neck and hugging him to her.

“We should get back out there”, he says, and she nods. “You go first, I still have to get in the house and change out of these pants.”

Before she opens the door, he calls her back and fixes her with a look.

“Behave, now.”

With a deep breath, Karen smiles and winks, turning the door knob, that smug feeling flaring back up.

“No promises.”


End file.
